Texas lt. gov. speaks after standoff over religion in Katy ISD

Students don't back claim that teacher asked them to deny God exists, Katy ISD says

KATY, Texas – After a student said she was forced to defend her religion to get a good grade, the lieutenant governor of Texas spoke about it Thursday in Houston.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said an assignment given in a seventh-grade reading class at West Memorial Junior High in Katy ISD was wrong.

"She had no business doing this. This family had a right to be upset." Patrick said.

The paper told students to label sentences as 1) fact, 2) commonplace assertion, a statement many assume to be true, but is not necessarily so, or 3) opinion. Sentence No. 2 read there is a God.

"That's not her business. That's totally wrong. If I were the principal, I'd have to take a long look if this is the type of teacher I'd want in the classroom." Patrick said. "I didn't feel like that was her place at all."

When Channel 2 talked to Jordan Wooley and her mom earlier this week, they said the project was unacceptable.

"She was instructed to write that is commonplace assertion, which the teacher defined as a myth," said mother Chantel Wooley.

The governor invited Jordan Wooley to the governor's mansion for having what he called the courage of her convictions. Patrick stopped short of saying the teacher should have been fired.

"I think this teacher lost her way. This assignment was not necessary," Patrick said.

For its part, the school district said the teacher did not ask students to deny God in the ungraded project. The district said the teacher and other students said the teacher did not use the word "myth" in the activity that will no longer be used in the school.